


Chloe's surprise for Max

by emcee857



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Chloe goes to the mall and gets more than she bargained for, Does the word dating sound like banging?, F/F, F/M, Parent who spots her kid with someone else, Shopping, Teasing Max
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-14 14:03:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20193460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emcee857/pseuds/emcee857
Summary: Chloe heads to the mall and sees something she had not expected. She decides to turn it into a surprise for her best friend Max in the best way she knows how.





	Chloe's surprise for Max

New boots? Check.

New shirt? Check.

That book Rachel wanted? Check.

A new toy for their cat? Check.

Chloe Price felt pretty good. The afternoon trip to the mall had been fruitful indeed. She decided to reward herself with a cool drink at her favorite bar. Not her real favorite bar, but the best one that the mall had to offer. Life was pretty good for the now 41-year-old woman on this sunny day in the late spring.

A young man asked her what she wanted to drink. Chloe would have asked for a cool beer, but she had to drive back home later so decided to settle for some orange juice. Whilst drinking Chloe also checked her phone.

Only one message this time. It was from her mother Joyce asking if Chloe and her family were coming for dinner next Sunday. Chloe texted back that she would discuss it with Rachel and their two children.

Chloe realized she had come a long way from being an angry, angsty, sad and rebellious teenager at war with the world over her father’s death and her childhood friend leaving town at practically the same time.

That was now more than a quarter of a century ago and Chloe barely remembered the last time she had not felt happy. Everything had ultimately fallen into place, including her wedding to Rachel and even the return of her childhood friend Max after an absence of over five years. Even that return was now more than twenty years ago.

A lot of people walked by, and Chloe watched them all. Old, young, couples, kids, mothers, fathers, babies and so on. There was a girl that resembled her daughter Liz but it wasn’t her. Fifteen-year-old Liz was spending the day with some of her friends. Chloe couldn’t remember their names.

She had no idea what her son was doing. William junior had left the house in a hurry late in the morning. He was going to be seventeen years old in June. Will, as he liked to be called, was growing up fast.

Literally too, he was already slightly taller than Chloe herself was, and was considered by many to be a handsome young man. Star receiver of his school’s football team, the Bigfoots, with college football scouts already having been signaled watching him play.

A quick yawn and Chloe decided to go back home. She paid for the drink and walked out of the bar. She looked to her left and then realized she had to go right towards the mall’s exit. A few minutes later she was at the car park and rummaged around in her jacket to find the keys. Just at that moment some noise made her look towards the road. And there she saw it. Two teenagers holding hands and giving each other a few quick kisses. It was a cute scene.

And then her jaw dropped. Those were not just any two teenagers.

That was her son Will. Chloe ducked behind her car to prevent him and the girl he was with from spotting her. Thankfully there was plenty of distance between them and Chloe, and the couple seemed far more interested in each other.

But who was the girl? Should Chloe sneakily take a photograph with her phone to show to Rachel later? Immediately text Rachel about this? It was a complicated matter. Privacy issues versus Chloe’s curiosity. She could not decide whether to do it or not. And then another realization.

That girl… she had seen her before. Many times, actually. She’d played pirates with her daughter Liz. That girl… could it be? Yes it was, none other than Sophie Caulfield, daughter of Max and her husband Warren, the former nerd who had actually taken his wife’s name. Chloe had found it cute when she heard it first. Maybe send that text she wanted to send Rachel to Max as well?

What to do? Chloe realized that no one had known about this relationship, or whatever it was. She certainly had not noticed anything before, nor Rachel… certainly not Max who always seemed oblivious about such things.

Meanwhile, Will and Sophie were still there… exchanging more cute little kisses. And then he put his arms around her. A big kiss followed, and the two suddenly walked away. Slowly disappearing out of Chloe’s sight. Still holding hands.

Chloe kind of felt guilty. As if she was spying on them, even though she had not even known the couple would be there. She decided on a compromise. No photos would be taken, though it was already too late for that, but she was going to low key hint at it towards Rachel and Max. Especially Max.

Several drafts of potential ways of telling Max about it passed through her head.

“Hey Maximus Prime, I saw my son kissing your daughter.”

“Long Max Silver, your daughter is the captain on my son’s ship.”

“Max, I have reason to believe that we might be family in a few years time! My son is dating your daughter.”

Yeah, that last one would get Max’s attention for sure. Chloe chuckled as she imagined the look on her friends’ face upon finding out Chloe’s son and Max’s daughter were apparently an issue.

But was it fair to embarrass a young couple? Perhaps she would simply ask Will if he was seeing any girls. Chloe decided that was the best course of action. Preferably when Rachel and Max were present. The opportunity might present itself the next day, as the Caulfield family would visit the Price house.

///

_ The next day _

Chloe, Rachel, Max and Warren were all sitting in the garden behind the Price residence. They had spent a few hours talking, drinking, barbecuing and other things forty somethings were supposed to do. To Chloe’s mild disappointment, Will and Sophie were absent. Her daughter Liz was also out of the house again.

Chloe had been biting her tongue all throughout the get-together. She had low key mentioned to Rachel the previous night that she suspected Will had a girlfriend, without telling that she knew for sure and also knew who it was. Rachel had been intrigued but Chloe had kept the secret to herself.

Warren had taken over barbecue duties from Chloe, who briefly went inside to get more drinks. Not much later she came back out and served drinks to the others. Right after sitting down she expertly opened her beer bottle and drank almost all of it in one go, much to Max’s amusement. Rachel was shaking her head but couldn’t hide a smile.

Chloe turned towards her best friend.

“Yo Maxipad”.

“Yes, Chloe?”

“I think my son is banging your daughter.”


End file.
